


Eye for an Eye

by Udunie



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, BAMF Stiles, Canon-Typical Violence, Full Shift Werewolves, Homelessness, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:35:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21906835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Udunie/pseuds/Udunie
Summary: Peter’s mind was fuzzy, and it wasn’t just the shift, or the blood loss, or the rage. It was probably also the wolfsbane dart the fucking hunters shot him with.He didn’t want it to end like this, but it looked like he’d finally ran out of luck. Maybe he got too comfortable. In New York, nobody cared if you were a supernatural, and the hunters and fundamentalist lunatics were generally treated with the dismay they deserved.He never expected to be hunted down on a regular midnight stroll, but in hindsight, that was on him.
Relationships: Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 76
Kudos: 528
Collections: Steter Secret Santa 2019





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HyperLittleNori (Shiguresan)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shiguresan/gifts).



> Heyo!!
> 
> First of all, I owe an apology to the awesome HyperLittleNori for posting this a day late, and not the whole thing either ;___; I'm so, so, so sorry about it, but life is just a horrible mess right now and it's hard to concentrate. I hope you will like the end result! I will be posting two more chapters once a day if all goes well! (then again, knowing me, it will be more than two lol)
> 
> Thank you so much for the patience, and Happy Holidays!

Peter’s mind was fuzzy, and it wasn’t just the shift, or the blood loss, or the rage. It was probably also the wolfsbane dart the fucking hunters shot him with. 

He didn’t want it to end like this, but it looked like he’d finally ran out of luck. Maybe he got too comfortable. In New York, nobody cared if you were a supernatural, and the hunters and fundamentalist lunatics were generally treated with the dismay they deserved.

He never expected to be hunted down on a regular midnight stroll, but in hindsight, that was on him.

“Watch ‘im, he ain't down yet,” said one of the hunters. There were three of them, and they blocked the mouth of the alley perfectly. Peter was too weak now to overpower them, even if he wasn’t wary of the electric batons the bastards were carrying. All he could do was plaster himself against the back wall, and growl.

One of the men lifted the baton, making him tense in anticipation, but their leader stilled his hand. 

“Don’t be a fucking idiot,” he said. “That  _ thing  _ can still bite your arm off. We just need to keep an eye on it for the next half hour and the wolfsbane will do the job.”

Peter growled again. The fucker was exactly right, all he needed was a distraction or the slightest opening, and he would still might be able to get out of this, but it looked like they weren’t planning on giving him a chance.

Peter bit towards them, trying to make them jump, but all that earned him was a wave of the batons, keeping him at a safe distance. They weren’t budging. 

He was so desperate to find an opening, that he almost missed the slight movement beside the dumpster ten feet away from them. The hunters didn’t seem to notice, and whatever it was, it managed to stay silent enough not to alert them. 

Peter didn’t dare to hope, but his brain was already calculating.

There was a… person there. A person who got to his feet very slowly and very quietly. Peter could only see his silhouette, backlit by the lamp at the mouth of the alley; it was a man with short hair and wide shoulders and… a baseball bat. 

Peter didn’t look at the figure straight on, not wanting to blow his cover and alert the hunters. 

“I’m gonna skin it after,” one of them said, his voice cracking with a grin. 

From the corner of his eye, Peter watched the shadow raise his bat.

“It might turn back into its manskin,” their boss said. 

“Still gonna skin it-”

Except he wasn’t going to skin anyone, judging by the wet crack his skull made when the shadow behind them brought his bat down. Peter felt a wave of vicious satisfaction, it washed over him and gave him enough strength to leap onto one of the men still standing, their attention snatched by the stranger still swinging his bat at them.

There was shouting and blood, and Peter fought for his life, tooth and nail - quite literally - dodging blows and sinking his fangs into anything coming his way. 

It was too much. He could feel the wolfsbane spread in his veins from the exertion, and in the end, he fell to the ground the same time the last hunter did. It was hard to keep his eyes open, and when a shadow covered him, all he could do was growl weakly.

“Hey now, it’s fine,” said a voice. It was unfamiliar, young and a bit scratchy. There were careful hands combing through his fur, and he didn’t even have enough strength to flinch away from them. But they didn’t hurt him, he could feel thin, strong fingers prod at him, careful with his injuries. The voice was murmuring soothing nothings intercepted with colorful cursing. 

When the young man was done, he scratched Peter behind the ear tentatively. 

“Do I take you to a hospital or to a vet?” he asked, and that was the last thing Peter heard for a while.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I realize this is like, two months late and I'm so, so, so sorry. I've been having a rough time, and just checked out for a while there... I know it's no excuse, but I'm not abandoning this, I promise!
> 
> All my love to Emma who kept me sane and is always there when I need her <3

When Peter woke up, he was - thankfully - in a hospital and not in a kennel, healing rapidly from injuries that would have been lethal if he was brought in just a few minutes later. Or at least that was what he was told. There was a brief questioning by the police, but he had enough experience side-stepping the law to be able to keep himself out of trouble. After all, nobody could expect a poor shifter who was obviously the victim of a hate crime to recall every little detail...

Peter imagined that this would be the sort of situation that would make people rethink their lives, what with the almost losing it, but as soon as he was conscious, he was itching to get out. Logically he knew he should be laying low; even though what happened could easily be written off as self defense, but he had something else in mind. 

Finding that boy.

***

Peter didn’t have much to go on, other than some impressions that felt almost dream-like, and the much sharper memory of a distinct scent in his nose. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the life-or-death situation, or something else, but he was certain he would recognize it anywhere.

He started his search in the alley - after making sure that the cops were no longer there. By the time he was finally released from the hospital it had already been three days, so he didn’t expect there to be much surveillance. Not in New York, where getting mauled in a dark corner wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Thankfully, the coast was clear. Unfortunately it was a little  _ too  _ clear and he found no trace of his savior. Then again, the boy would have been stupid if he returned there so shortly after what happened, but Peter could have done with a bit of luck.

Instead, he was left with hunting down his prey the old-fashioned way. 

***

Peter told Talia that he’s taking a vacation - she didn’t even argue with him, not after what happened - and started to work. He’d been his sister’s fixer for a long time now, and it wasn’t rare that he would have to use his supernatural senses to get things done, but there was a difference between spotting a lie in a boardroom and sniffing his way across the worst parts of the city. 

He could pick up the scent at a few places. A two days old trace at a homeless shelter, a lingering whiff near a community kitchen… Peter worked his way around carefully, trying not to make much of a fuss. He was already sticking out in some of these places like a sore thumb, there was no need to raise any more suspicion. He only made the mistake of actually asking about the boy once, but he didn’t get any useful info based on his vague description. It wasn’t like he could explain the kid’s smell to a human. Still, he didn’t miss the guarded looks some of the homeless people gave him, and he had a feeling that he did more harm than good by opening his mouth.

***

After two weeks of no results, Peter was  _ almost  _ considering admitting defeat. Somewhere along the line, his noble search turned into a game of cat-and-mouse, and he was losing. In any other situation, this would have been irking him to no end, but he had to concede that he was actually impressed. He just hoped Talia would never find out about a human boy making him run around, effectively chasing his own tail.

The breakthrough came by pure chance. Peter was sitting in a cafe, pondering his next step when someone came in the door, and with them… That scent. Fresh and tantalizing.

He was out the door in a second, following the breeze, getting alarmingly close to just wolfing out and running down the street in full shift, chasing his ‘prey.' The trail took him down a corner, then another, leaving behind the glitzier part of the city and into less savory neighborhoods. When he could finally lay his eyes on the boy - dashing into an alley not unlike the one they met in - Peter felt his blood sing with victory. 

He caught up to the boy right as he was trying to get over a makeshift fence. Just in time too, because his hold slipped, and if not for Peter catching him, he would have landed on the unforgiving concrete. Immediately, the boy started struggling, and from this close, Peter could tell that there was something wrong with him. 

“Why do you keep running away?” he growled, trying to help him to his feet without letting him darting off again. 

“Why do you keep chasing me?” the kid asked, incredulous and a bit panicked. His eyes were a touch too bright, and it took a second for Peter to recognize it as fever. 

Ah. Yeah. He could see how a stranger hounding you around the city might be a bit… alarming. The thing was, he really didn’t have a good answer. Nobody in his life would have called him altruistic or associated him with gratitude in any way, shape or form. And yet, here he was, having just wasted weeks of his life, chasing a boy around.

“Wanted to thank you for not taking me to the vet,” he said, instead of an explanation that would actually make sense.

The boy blinked at him, and even under all the dirt, Peter could see how sickly flushed he was underneath.

“Oh,” he said, and then promptly fainted into Peter’s arms.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment if you liked it!
> 
> You can find me at udunie.tumblr.com


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